The Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko criticizes the Socialist leader Igor Dodon’s proposal to take money from the foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) so as to help the citizens in times of a pandemic. According to the European diplomat, such an act is an attack on the independence of the NBM. Moreover, he criticizes the Parliament’s decision to abrogate again the famous billion law, saying this would endanger Moldova’s relations with the international financial institutions, IPN reports.
The Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko considers that the Parliament’s decision to abrogate again the billion law, after the Constitutional Court held that this abrogation is unconstitutional, is populist. The diplomat noted this action endangers Moldova’s credibility before the International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions.
“For the EU, it is very important to know, in our financing programs, what the country’s relationship with the IMF is. It goes to persistent standards in the world of the financial institutions. If these standards are not respected, it is harder for the given countries to have access to financing. In December 2020, we saw that particular laws were adopted, with the abrogation of the billion law being only one of them, and these laws go against these standard. Those laws were actually the commitments made earlier by the Republic of Moldova and Chisinau didn’t fulfill them,” Peter Michalko stated in the talk show “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
The official also does not approve of the Socialist leader Igor Dodon’s proposal to take at least 10 billion lei from the foreign exchange reserves of the NBM.
“It would be an attack on the independence of the NBM. It is a populist idea that would not bring solutions, but would rather lead to the recurrence of previous problems. On the other hand, external financing is available and this will be provided to the Republic of Moldova when the conditions tied to the next tranche from the EU are met. The possibility of making progress existed also in the program with the IMF, but this wasn’t made. The Republic of Moldova should use these financing sources that not only do not do any damage, but can even help the economy and the people,” stated Peter Michalko.
The EU Ambassador in Chisinau also said that to manage to obtain foreign financial assistance, a credible and stable Government that would honor the commitments undertaken earlier by the Republic of Moldova should be voted in.
